All 4 Uses of
brief
in
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Uses with a very common or rare meaning:
- But what says she to me? be brief, my good she-Mercury.†
Scene 2.2
- Sir, I hear you are a scholar,—I will be brief with you, and you have been a man long known to me, though I had never so good means, as desire, to make myself acquainted with you.†
Scene 2.2
- Give your men the charge; we must be brief.†
Scene 3.3 *
- Speak, breathe, discuss; brief, short, quick, snap.†
Scene 4.5
Definition:
-
(meaning too common or rare to warrant focus) Brief is most commonly encountered as an adjective meaning "of short duration." Other meanings derive from the idea of short--as when making a long story short by summarizing it, or when wearing briefs (underwear).